What to visit on a road trip to Virginia in 3 days

Colonial Williamsburg was my favorite stop during the Virginia road trip

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What to visit on a road trip to Virginia in 3 days

Destinations, North America, Travel, USA, Virginia

If you’re wondering what to visit on a road trip to Virginia in 3 days, check out these tips on Charlottesville, Monticello, Richmond and colonial Williamsburg following my recent tour.

Table of Contents

This week I am back with plenty of pictures after my trip to the nearby state of Virginia. I went there with some friends from DC and I loved my first road trip experience in the United States. Below is the map of our itinerary so you can easily follow along as well as a table with the distances between each city.

DISTANCES (USING THE FASTEST ROUTE)
From Washington DC to Charlottesville: 2h30, 116 miles (187 km)
From Charlottesville to Monticello: 10 min, 4 miles (6,5 km)
From Monticello to Richmond: 1h10, 73 miles (117 km)
From Richmond to colonial Williamsburg: 50 min, 51 miles (81 km)
From colonial Williamsburg to Washington DC: 2h30, 153 miles (247 km)

Charlottesville & the vineyards

After a two-hour drive from Washington DC , we reached Charlottesville. Once we checked in at the hotel (see trip details below) we enjoyed a wine tasting at the King Family vineyards, just 15 minutes away from Charlottesville. We were literally in the middle of nowhere but we enjoyed the countryside!

Visiting King Family Vineyards in Crozet

Exploring the campus of the University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Monticello & Richmond

On Sunday morning, we strolled a bit more around the streets of Charlottesville, which is famous for housing the University of Virginia, founded by American statesman Thomas Jefferson.

After a hearty Sunday brunch in town, we headed to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate in the outskirts of Charlottesville. His mansion is located on a small hill and took 40 years to build.

Although the ticket was $18, I enjoyed the visit to the house and gardens in Monticello. I also learned quite a few things about the important figure of Thomas Jefferson in the history of the United States. He was the third President of the country between 1801 and 1809 and the author of the Declaration of Independence. The guided tour of the mansion turned out to be as interesting as its former tenant!

Monticello is located on a hill with splendid views

Monticello was Jefferson's estate in the Virginia countryside — Monticello was Jefferson’s estate in the Virginia countryside

Indian items during the Monticello house tour

In the evening, we drove to Richmond, the capital of Virginia. By the time we got there, it was dark and freezing cold outside so we actually toured the city by car. In any case, we had the impression there was not much to see.

Colonial Williamsburg

On Monday we headed to colonial Williamsburg, the former capital of Virginia and a loyal British colony. Beginning in 1780, the city fell into decline until Rockefeller embarked on a massive restoration project. He managed to recreate this old city from the 18th century and it’s actually fun to see people walking around in period dresses. This site features now more than 40 historic sites and trades, four historic taverns, and two world-class art museums.

Colonial Williamsburg was definitely my favorite stop during this Virginia road trip.

I was looking forward to visiting Jamestown and Yorktown, which together with Williamsburg form the so-called Historic Triangle. However, we didn’t have enough time to do that. By the way, did you know Jamestown hosted the first British settlement in the New World, back in 1607? For those Pocahontas fans out there, this was the place. Lastly, Yorktown was the place where the last battle of the War of Independence was fought.